Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Italian Wedding Soup



I was watching Ina Garten make this soup on her show last week. It looked so amazing and healthy. I had to try it for dinner last night. We loved it. I didn't make 40 tiny meatballs but made 25 larger ones. This was a wonderful winter nights dinner. I will be making this again. I did add the spinach to each bowl and then ladle the hot soup on top instead of wilting the spinach into the soup.
Italian Wedding Soup
2008, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, All Rights Reserved
Prep Time:
30 min
Inactive Prep Time:
hr min
Cook Time:
45 min
Level:
Easy
Serves:
8 servings
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
3/4 pound ground chicken
1/2 pound chicken sausage, casings removed
2/3 cup fresh white bread crumbs
2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
3 tablespoons milk
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the soup:
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 cup minced yellow onion
1 cup diced carrots (3 carrots), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
3/4 cup diced celery (2 stalks), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
10 cups homemade chicken stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup small pasta such as tubetini or stars
1/4 cup minced fresh dill
12 ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Pecorino, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. With a teaspoon, drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (You should have about 40 meatballs. They don't have to be perfectly round.) Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside.
In the meantime, for the soup, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan.

2 comments:

Jeni said...

Oh yum...I love Italian Wedding soup. I even buy it in the can for a quick fix. I will enjoy trying this.

Donna-FFW said...

I soo adore Italian wedding soup. Yours looks absolutely WONDERFUL. I could so go for a bowl right now. It is chilly out, and the picture is calling my name!!

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